After school that day, Tristan was noticeably tired. As he stood at his locker, shifting his textbooks around, he seemed a bit detached. His locker was surprisingly neat; Tristan happened to be a bit of a neat freak. There were a few pictures plastered on the metallic door; a few shots of cars and some of women, photos one would typically find in the locker of a teenage male. Tristan also had a sweater tidily hanging on one of the hooks and he had two shelves set up, one had all his textbooks arranged alphabetically in terms of subject, the other shelf with the corresponding notebooks and binders. There wasn't one article of garbage in the entire locker.
"Tristan," Tara's voice greeted. Tristan turned his eyes to her and smiled cockily.
"What's up?" he said.
"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry if I was a bit harsh earlier. It's sort of a knee-jerk reaction when it comes to you." Tara said, ignoring his remark.
"Gee, thanks." Tristan rolled his eyes.
"What I mean is, I was more of an ass than you were today and that thought didn't make me too happy. Any ways, I'm sure you must have had a better lunch with your friends than you would've had with me. I'll see you tomorrow." Tara told him, the sharpness, for once, absent in her tone.
"Bye." Tristan answered.
The short reply surprised Tara. "What? No snarky wise-ass comments?"
Tristan merely shrugged.
"You're seriously going to go a full conversation with me without trying to hit on me even once?" Tara raised her eyebrows.
Tristan lightly put his arm around Tara's waist. "Do you miss it?" He laughed and kissed her.
Tara pulled away and rolled her eyes. "There's the Dugrey I recognize. I was starting to wonder if something was wrong."
"Oh, you know you liked the kiss." He smirked. "No need to worry about me, Mary."
"The least you could do is not recycle the nicknames you've used for other girls," she frowned. "I thought you people would have more originality than to use the same biblical insults on multiple people."
"Aw, are you upset that you don't have your own unique pet name? You should have said something, babe." Tristan's eyes danced.
"Whatever. Something to think about, Dugrey, what makes you so sure I'm a Mary?" Tara blurted.
"Are you saying you're not?" Tristan said in surprise.
Tara muttered something under her breath and just walked away. The flustered manner in which she left caused Tristan to grin. Her reaction made it obvious that it was a slip of the tongue that made her say what she did. Curiosity lighted in his mind. How could Tara Elden not be a Mary?
Tara cursed as she left the school. It was a stupid thing to say. She wanted to hit Tristan. The damn boy always managed to drive her to her worst. She hoped he wouldn't think too much of her comment. Why did she have to open her big mouth?
Rory was walking outside the school and caught sight of Tara's expression. She cocked her head curiously and strode over.
"Hey. Is everything all right?" Rory questioned the girl.
"Oh, yeah, just Dugrey crap again." Tara shook her head.
"Is he still hounding you?" she sighed.
"We're stuck on the same project. I'm loving Wyrnell so much for that." Tara rolled her eyes.
"Ugh. Sometimes I wish he just stayed in military school. Nothing changed in him, he's still the spoiled, cocky brat he always was." Rory shook her head.
"Dugrey went to military school?" Tara frowned in surprise.
"You didn't know?"
"I love to see that you lovely ladies are so infatuated with me," Tristan grinned, walking up behind the two. "Now that you're here Rory, I think a little ceremony is necessary. Former Mary, meet current Mary. I'm afraid your title's lost. Eh, though maybe Mary Magdalene might be more accurate. What do you think?"
"Slither away, why don't you?" Tara snapped. "I try to be nice and all you can do is be an ass."
"It's something I've learned from experience, don't bother being nice to Tristan." Rory glared at him.
The bus pulled up and Rory sighed. "Sorry to leave you here alone with him, but I have to go."
"See you." Tara said.
"Bye bye now Lorelai." Tristan said in a singsong voice.
Tara turned away from the blonde and hoped he would just leave.
"Leaving so soon?" Tristan mock-pouted. "But you were so interested in me just a second ago."
Tara ignored him.
"Don't compare notes about me with Rory." Tristan told her. "Really, if you want to know that badly, talk to me."
"Did you really go to military school?" Tara hesitantly asked.
Tristan's pager rang at that moment. He glanced at it and flashed a smile at Tara. "Got to run."
He ran off before Tara could get in another word.
He didn't actually have to hurry off anywhere. It was just Lucille reminding him for the millionth time that her party was tomorrow. Tristan shook his head as he drove away from Chilton. It figured that Rory would just have to feel compelled to tell the one and only person who hadn't known about his military school days about it. He was not about to discuss those days with anyone and the fact that Tara hadn't known about it had made things so much easier for Tristan. Running a hand through his hair, Tristan put on a CD and pushed the volume to the max, trying to block out the memories that were now resurfacing in his mind against his will. No matter how hard he tried to repress those days, they would always stay with him. Thank you so much, Rory.
Tristan wasn't heading home. It was 4 o'clock on a Wednesday, which meant that there was a ninety percent chance that he would walk in on his mother screwing the UPS guy. His father always got business deliveries on Wednesdays. Ironic really. Oh crap, now Tristan was juggling images of his mother and "Tyler" along with the military memories.
It was a little over a year ago that Tristan had walked in on this specific affair. He had come home just to pick up something before meeting some friends and he had encountered the two figures in the front foyer, right in the open. After walking in on them twice more, Tristan realized that it was a fixed schedule. As long as he stayed away from the house between 3:30 and 5:30 on Wednesdays, he should be all right for the time being. That is until his mother decided to pick a new guy or a new time. It was the sixth serious affair Tristan knew of.
The very first one Tristan was aware of occurred when he was twelve. That was a very fun day. That was one of the reasons his mother lavished him with so much money and gifts, she was fluffing him up so he wouldn't spill the news. Not that Tristan's father was in any way clueless. When Tristan was fourteen he realized that his dad did have the knowledge that his wife was cheating on him. Why did the two stay together then? For one, it was Tristan's mother who had the big money when the two first married. Tristan's father wasn't poor before but he wasn't rich either. The entire Dugrey Empire began with Celia Frustbeigger Dugrey's cash. And the pre-nup was heavily in Celia's favour. Filing for divorce would mean a loss of multi-millions to Tristan's father. Therefore, a system of denial was worked out. Of course, Celia didn't know that her husband was aware of her infidelity. It was thanks to her that Tristan was out of military school. If it had been up to Tristan's father he would have spent the rest of his high school years in military confinement. Tristan was bitter about all this. The only reason his mother wheedled his father into let him out was because she didn't want him to squeal. Sometimes Tristan wondered if his parents actually did give a shit about him.
Pulling into an empty lot, Tristan killed the engine. He laid his head on his steering wheel and sighed heavily. He opened the car door and walked into the familiar park. Tristan made a beeline for a specific tree and gingerly reached into the hollow trunk and took out a bag. His eyes hard, he removed the cold bottle and took a long sip of the alcohol inside, as per his usual Wednesday afternoon routine.
A/N: Yes, I actually updated! It's June, so finals soon, which is why I've taken so long. RnR if you want. Yes I put in a little bit more Rory, she will be in here more soon. And yes, you will find out more about the guy in chapter 4 later on.